An account of the Canadian government's attempts to "Canadianize" immigrants during the Second World War.

With the outbreak of the Second World War in Europe, the Canadian government realized that the war effort required not only invoking national consciousness but also involving the twenty percent of the country's population who were not of British or French origins. Managing the Canadian Mosaic in Wartime explores the anxieties that characterized public debate and policy making of the time as well as the pragmatic view that the wartime project depended upon the successful integration of marginalized immigrant communities. This history provides a key to understanding the development of multiculturalism in Canada.

At the time, Canadian policies regarding ethnic communities were preoccupied with the involvement and loyalty these communities had with their homeland's politics and the fear of infiltration from either the left or right of the political spectrum. Focusing on the creation and operation of under-examined government institutions and committees devised to exercise subtle control of minority groups, Ivana Caccia explores the shaping of Canadian identity, the introduction of government-inspired citizenship education, and the management of ethnic relations. An engaging work that offers an important account of nation building in Canada and the treatment of ethnic minorities in times of heightened international tensions, Managing the Canadian Mosaic in Wartime provides crucial insights into multicultural policy and the possibility of parallels with the preoccupations with security and surveillance in the aftermath of 9/11.

"Caccia's research is extensive, her detailing of Philipps' exhaustive efforts to investigate new Canadians of European origin is impressive, and ultimately we are better informed about the Nationalities Branch and its idiosyncratic staff." Stephanie Bangarth, King's University College“Managing the Canadian Mosaic in Wartime explores and illuminates the tensions of how the Canadian state dealt with the war-time challenge of maintaining national unity, while ensuring the support of ethnic minorities. It is an impressive book on a subject that is of increasing importance and relevance and it is evidence of Ivana Caccia’s expertise.” Franca Iacovetta, Professor of History, University of Toronto

Ivana Caccia immigrated to Canada in 1982 and is now an independent researcher with a PhD in Canadian history from University of Ottawa.

Managing the Canadian Mosaic in WartimeIvana Caccia

Table of Contents

Acknowledgments xiIllustrations xiiiIntroduction 3

1 In Defence of Canada and a Way of Life 112 On “Race,” “Foreignness,” and the Hyphen 383 The Makeup of a Specialist 684 Setting Up the Committee on Co-operation in Canadian Citizenship 905 The Nationalities Branch in Action, Part 1: Organization and Activities 1156 The Nationalities Branch in Action, Part 2: Two Case Studies 1387 The Communist Factor 1608 In Search of “Unity in Diversity” 178

Conclusion 210Timelines 215

APPENDICES1 Committee on Cooperation in Canadian Citizenship, 1942-45 2312 Press Releases Prepared by the Editorial Section of the Nationalities Branch for the Use of the “Foreign-Language” Press, 1942-43 234